Bless The Child: Man's Best Friend 2
by The Laughing Platypus
Summary: Sequel to Man's Best Friend, two years later, Annabelle Lennox is now Rosie Ironman and life has returned for the most part to normal... Or has it? Annabelle is about to learn that there's nothing normal about giant alien robots...
1. Chapter 1

Right-O, as promised, this is the sequel to Man's Best Friend. If you haven't read Man's Best Friend, you really should. Because it explains a lot. Consider it a prologue to this. It explains how William and Sarah died, how Ironhide became a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado with a huge black Mastiff for a hologram and how Annabelle Lennox became Rosie Ironman. Now, if you haven't seen a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado, I recommend you Google it. It's a HUGE car, long and heavy. One of the last years they made the really big fins on the back.

_"Com"_

"Out Loud"

**Chapter One- My daddy blows stuff up!**

"My daddy blows stuff up!" Ironhide grinned. When she had first brought home a note from her teacher saying it was career day, he and Optimus decided that he would pose as a member of the US Military. Now, leaning his hologram against the wall in a loose military stance, Ironhide beamed with pride as his little girl introduced her "daddy" to her 3rd grade class.

Two years had passed since he had almost lost her. Since then, she had grown accustomed to her new name and life with the Autobots. They had been fortunate. She had inherited her father's iron will and other then a normal grieving pattern, according to Ratchet, there had been no negative effects due to the traumatic experience she had gone through.

"Thats very good Rosie, so, Mr. Ironman, can you explain to us what your job is?"

Ironhide nodded, his blue eyes twinkling. "Yes ma'am. I'm a weapons specialist with the military. As Rosie mentioned, I blow stuff up."

Ms. Bellum smiled at her class "Do you have any advise for someone wanting to join the military?"

Ironhide raised an eye brow. Why in the name of Primus would a child want to join the military? Humans. "Don't"

"_Hide, ET to being done with Annabelle's school?"_

"_Any minute now. What's up?" _

"_We've picked up two decepticon energy signatures entering the atmosphere 2 miles from your location." _

Ironhide pushed his scanners to full capacity, kicking himself for not paying attention.

"_Hit my cell phone."_

Ms. Bellum was about to ask another question, when Ironhide's cell phone went off. Making a show of grabbing it and looking at the number on it, he frowned.

"I'm afraid I'll have to cut this short. They need me back at base."

The look on Rosie's face filled his spark with a tinge of disappointment. He knelt. "Stay here kiddo, I'll be back for you. Keep your com on."

She nodded, hugging him. "Member your promise."

He nodded and made a show of smiling apologetically and heading out the door. Seconds later, a dark blue 1959 Cadillac Eldorado tore out of the parking lot with a squeal of tires. If only he had paid more attention, he would have noticed the silver and blue boom box, sitting on a shelf across the room.

-Two Hours Later-

Ironhide stared bewilderedly at the two retreating jets as they disappeared over the horizon. His warrior instinct was nagging him. Thundercracker and Skywarp never gave up that easily. Something was wrong. If he didn't know any better, he would say they had been nothing more then a diversion... Letting out a string of curses that would make a sailor die of shame, he did a back flip, flying down the road before his transformation was complete.

"_PRIME! THEY'RE AFTER ANNABELLE!"_

_"What?!" _

_"Slagging pit-spawns, Cracker and Warp were a diversion!"_

Ironhide's worst fears were confirmed when his "cell phone" rang. Trying to stay calm as he frantically tried to get back to the school, he answered it.

"Hello? Mr. Ironman?"

"Yeah."

"This is Abigail Lordes, I'm the principle at S. Freemont Elementary School. "

Ironhide swerved violently, trying to get around stopped traffic on the freeway. The mangled mess of twisted cars and the acrid smell of photon fire informed his sensors that he had been right about the diversion. _"Prime we got casualties. Looks like someone nailed the I-5 with a Photon Pulse Bomb. I'm guessing they were trying to slow me down." _

"_Find Annabelle, I'm sending the twins your way. Report in the minute you find something." _

"_Yes sir" _

With a snarl, Ironhide went off-road, nearly jarring his chassis apart as he shredded the ground under his tires. They would pay for this. He would blow every slagging con in the slagging universe into little bits of shrapnel if one hair on his little girl's head was out of place. Forcing himself to focus, he turned his attention back to the phone call with Annabelle's principle.

"I'm afraid Rosie didn't come back in from recess. We've notified the police. Do you have any idea where she might have gone?"

"Probably home. I'm headed in that direction now. Did anyone see anything?"

"I'm afraid not. We're still looking."

Ironhide grinned as two Lamborghini Gallardo, one red and one gold pulled neatly into formation beside him, flashing their headlights, then almost spark-attacked with relief as the tracking beacon on Annabelle's com hit his sensors. He had her. Thank Primus.

"Call me if you find anything"

With that he hung up, about to open a com with the twins when a voice that sent chills into his spark filled his head. Swerving, he struggled to regain control as his systems fritz'd and everything went dark, wrapping itself around the horror that was Soundwave invading his mind as images of Annabelle being tortured filled his processor.

"I will exchange the child, unharmed, if you bring me the sparkless corpse of Optimus Prime. Do we have an agreement?"

Ironhide groaned, struggling against the vice like grip holding him trapped in this world of dark and fear. "GO TO PIT SLAG!"

"Wrong answer."

The last thing he heard was the sound of his own hoarse screams as Soundwave crushed his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Right-O, as promised, this is the sequel to Man's Best Friend. If you haven't read Man's Best Friend, you really should. Because it explains a lot. Consider it a prologue to this. It explains how William and Sarah died, how Ironhide became a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado with a huge black Mastiff for a hologram and how Annabelle Lennox became Rosie Ironman. Now, if you haven't seen a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado, I recommend you Google it. It's a HUGE car, long and heavy. One of the last years they made the really big fins on the back.

_"Com"_

"Out Loud"

**Chapter 2- Femme Bot... **

"Hide... Come on big guy, don't do this... HIDE!"

Ironhide struggled to free himself from the pain filled haze he was lost in as a familiar voice called his name.

"Come on, your stronger then this...Annabelle's in danger. She needs you."

Confusion. Pain. That voice. Like a hand it reached out to him and he grabbed it, struggling to pull himself through the jumbled mess that surrounded him.

"I... Help...Can't...Hurts..."

"I need you to save our daughter Hide..."

Ironhide struggled to remember. He had a daughter? A fragment hit him, a face, soft and sweet, crowned by beautiful blonde curls, piercing eyes of blue. Beautiful heart shaped lips. The voice of an angel. He had a daughter. Now if he could only remember her name. Who are you, daughter? Who... Annabelle... Baby girl...He remembered! He had to save her!

"Thats it Hide... Come back..."

"Will..."

"Annabelle needs you Hide... Come back..."

"DAMNIT HIDE DON'T DO THIS! YOU SLAGGING PILE OF OUT DATED SCRAP, YOU'VE SURVIVED WORSE THEN THIS! DON'T YOU DARE OFFLINE ON ME!"

The haze cleared slightly, another voice entering his torn mind. So familiar. Angry. Furious. Ratchet.

"R...Ratch...Ratchet..."

Ratchet nearly lost his forced expression of calm as the Ironhide's dull, lifeless optics flickered dimly and he whispered his name. Relief turned to panic as alarms went off and the weapon's specialist began to crash again, his ancient systems unable to keep up with the strain put on them, began failing rapidly. Deep within his slowly mending mind, Ironhide screamed as he was yanked back into darkness.

Barricade groaned softly as his battered system's came back online. Silently he cursed himself. What the slag had the been thinking when he responded to Sunstreaker's desperate cries for help? Just before the damage to the Autobot's processing unit had offlined him, he had managed to drag the shock trooper and his partner into this horrible mess, using the damned child as leverage.

Shuddering through his pain, Barricade ran a systems check, not surprised to find that he was barely functioning at 40 thanks to the beating from Skywarp and Thundercracker. They had called him a traitor for trying to stop them from harming the little girl.

With a heavy sigh, he reached out to Frenzy. The weak, barely noticeable pulse that met him filled him with relief. The little hacker was alive. Things were looking up. It was then he noticed the tiny form sharing a cell with him. Alarm flooded his systems. There, laying in the far corner, making soft clicking sounds as she cried was a sparkling. A femme sparkling. He clicked soothingly. She looked up, deep blue optics widening as they met his own.

"It will be alright little one..."

With a strangled sob, she threw herself against him. Ignoring his pain, his war hardened spark softened as he held her tiny frame against his dented chest plate, clicking soothingly and stroking the back of her helmet.

"I am called Barricade. What is your designation?"

"Annabelle..."

Barricade's optics widened as he realized just what Soundwave had done to the little girl.


	3. Chapter 3

Right-O, as promised, this is the sequel to Man's Best Friend. If you haven't read Man's Best Friend, you really should. Because it explains a lot. Consider it a prologue to this. It explains how William and Sarah died, how Ironhide became a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado with a huge black Mastiff for a hologram and how Annabelle Lennox became Rosie Ironman. OMG OMG OMG, this is turning into a monster! Holy cow! Yep. You guessed it. Im evil. Muahahaha.

**Chapter 3- Memories...**

Ironhide's systems booted up so fast for a minute he thought something was wrong. His concern grew when he realized that none of them were the systems he was use to. As he ran scans, he realized in alarm that the dull ache that had been ever present in his right hip from an old battle wound was now non existant. What the slagging pit? Even his vision was better then it had been. His optic's moved to the floor and widened. Ratchet lay several feet from the med bay table, face down on the floor.

"RATCH!" Scrambling, he slid off the table, only to pause as he looked down at himself. Gone was his battle dented, patched together dark blue armor. The body he had known most of his life had been replaced by sleek perfection, every part of him new and improved. His movement was so fluid, he almost tripped over himself as he shrugged it off and focused on the medic. Scan's indicated dangerously low energon levels. Scowling he realized what had happened.

"Damnit Ratch, you've gotta quit runnin yerself into the ground like this..." Gently scooping the recharge deprived medic into his arms, which he noted with pleasure were functioning at triple the strength he had once had, he lay him gently on the stasis table he had just vacated and headed to the locked cabnit across the room, grabbing a bottle of high grade and ripping it open, gently forcing the medic's mouth open with a fingertip and carefully trickling the energon into it. After six or seven swallows, relief filled him as Ratchet's optics flickered on and he moaned.

"What the slag..."

Ironhide raised an optic ridge "You worked yourself into a stasis lock."

In an instant, Ratchet tried to sit up, optics widening, then dimming slightly as his energon deprived systems sputtered and failed. He grabbed the can of energon from Ironhide, guzzling it. "More and be quick about it... I'll finish the repairing the twins, then we can save Annabelle..."

Ironhide grabbed another can, ripping it open and holding it out, confusion lining his face. His next words caused Ratchet to choke on his energon. "Who the slag is Annabelle?"

Barricade looked down at the now sleeping sparkling in his arms and frowned slightly, memories he had tried so hard to burry, sputtering back to life within his processor.

-Flashback-

'CADE! Play with us!"

"Yeah, please? Your the best at Slag!"

Barricade smirked softly, looking down at the eager sparklings crowding around him. "Ok. One, two, three GO!"

With a chorus of happy chirps and squeals, they tackled him, trying to take him down. As the memory faded away, the sound of laughter made his spark ache with longing for what had been and would never be again.

-End flashback-

"C...C...Cade."

He jerked his head up, smiling as he saw Frenzy standing there, holding up the keys to his cell. "Frenzy. You rock."

The hacker grinned, his blue optic's sparkling and unlocked the cell door, climbing up his chassis to assess the damage and begin repairs. He looked down at the recharging form in Barricade's arms with wide optics. . "Sp...Sp.. Sparkling?"

"Annabelle Lennox... Appearantly, Soundwave decided to turn her into a femme. My guess is he planned on turning her con."

Frenzy made an angry sound, then got to work on repairs. "Sc...Sc...Scum."

Barricade sighed with relief as Frenzy made quick work of the damage, bringing his systems back up to 60 percent before scowling. "Need parts and a m...m...medic. Your T-9 system is thra... thrashed, but..."

The hacker was cut off as a massive explosion blew the door off the brig and Optimus Prime himself stepped through, optics narrowed as he saw the sight in front of him. Barricade slowly moved his arm, revealing the sparkling tucked against his chest. Prime's optics widened and he crouched.

"Primus... Is that?"

"What's left of Annabelle... I'm sorry Prime... I tried..." Feeling horrible, he held out Annabelle, who woke with a squeak and clung. "Barricade! NO! DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T... OPTIMUS!"

As recognition filled her face, she leapt from Barricade's arms into Optimus Prime's. He held her tiny body gently as she sobbed and watched warily as Barricade pushed himself to his feet. "You'll need back up and I can't make it out alone. What do you say we call a truce?" \

"Try anything, I will kill you. Do you understand?"

Barricade nodded, following the Autobot leader as he turned on his heel, heading up through the decepticon base and towards freedom, the child turned sparkling tucked safely against his strong chest plate.


	4. Chapter 4

Right-O, as promised, this is the sequel to Man's Best Friend. If you haven't read Man's Best Friend, you really should. Because it explains a lot. Consider it a prologue to this. It explains how William and Sarah died, how Ironhide became a 1959 Cadillac Eldorado with a huge black Mastiff for a hologram and how Annabelle Lennox became Rosie Ironman.

**Chapter 5- Jet Judo **

"Ratch..."

"I don't know how this happened... "

"Ratchet."

"I double checked everything...It should be perfect..."

"RATCHET!"

The rambling medic blinked out of his rant and looked down at the mech on his Med Bay table. Ironhide was starting to panic. Ratchet wasn't swearing. When Ratchet didn't swear, it usually meant someone was about to die.

"Wouldja mind telling me what the slag is goin on? I'm a little confused here."

Ratchet sighed heavily. "You almost didn't make it Hide. You got in a fight with Soundwave, he fragged your processor to pit. Your mind wasn't strong enough to keep your out dated systems running. If I hadn't transferred you to a new body, you would have died. Unfortunatly, I seem to have damaged your memory in doing so."

"Lemme guess. Thats why you dropped into a stasis lock, right? Building this?" Ironhide motioned to his slender new form.

Ratchet grinned "No, I already had this built. I've been waiting for you to finally get over your stubborn pride and ask for an upgrade for years. I wore myself into a stasis lock getting the twins up and running."

"The twins got slagged?"

"Yes sadly, they were in the same shape you were. The difference is they are new enough that they didn't crash. I was able to transfer them right before I transferred you."

"You wore yourself out building two protoforms?"

"No, I wore myself out building to triple changer protoforms."

Ironhide swore under his breath.

They were slagged. Totally slagged. Holy Primus were they slagged. Barricade struggled to remain standing as his vision filled with static. How the slag Soundwave had gotten so powerful was beyond him, but the weak cries coming from the hunched over form of Optimus Prime showed that they both had underestimated him greatly. That underestimation would cost them dearly. Knowing he was next, Barricade shoved the sparkling behind him, gaurding her with his failing body and casting a mournful glance to the energon coated pieces of what had once been Frenzy.

The little hacker had fought bravely, but he was no match for a full sized decepticon. Thundercracker viciously yanked Prime's arms behind his back. His mind overwhelmed by Soundwave's powerful attack, Optimus couldn't have fought back if he wanted to.

Inside Optimus Prime's mind, he was fighting a losing battle. A part of him knew what he saw wasn't real. But it felt real. So real it was killing his spark. She was there. She was dying in his arms.

"Elita! DON'T LEAVE ME!"

His spark cried for hers as he felt it fading away, that bright light that had become his everything, dimming and growing cold. He cradled her beautiful body against his as her energon trickled out of her on the ground at their feet.

"Optimus... You have to fight this... It's not real..."

His head jerked up. He knew that voice. "Will?"

"Yeah, its me... Listen... I need you to fight this... My baby girl is out there all alone and if you don't take down Soundwave, she's going to die."

As despair strangled his spark, he looked back down at the lifeless body of his precious Elita and whispered "How?"

"Primus says you have to connect to the matrix."

Closing his eyes, Optimus struggled to regain control his his mind enough to reach into the matrix within him. He felt the soft warmth that he had grown to know so well and grabbed it, letting it guide him into a sea of blue.

"Bought fragging time you got here."

A smile crossed his face. "Jazz."

Outside of the mind of Optimus Prime, Barricade was staring in complete and utter awe at the two Autobot's that had just taken down Thundercracker and Skywarp in a flurry of furious... Jet Judo? It couldn't be, the twins were Lamborghini's, not F-117 Stealth Fighter Jets... But there was no way they couldn't be the twins, because never in all his years of life had Barricade ever seen a jet that was painted bright gold or candy apple red. It had to be them. His suspicion was confirmed a moment later when the gold one called out cheerfully

"HEY 'CADE! YOU GONNA JOIN THE PARTY OR JUST STAND THERE STARING AT MY BEAUTIFUL AFT ALL DAY?"

"Sunstreaker... How?"

"Fight now, talk later. Get Annabelle out of here, we'll keep the deceptiscrap busy." Sideswipe grumped, slamming head on into Soundwave.

Not needing to be told twice, he grabbed the hysterical little sparkling and ran for the exit.


End file.
